Ask Me No Questions
So after nearly two months of writer's block I finally managed to squeeze out a drabble!
The spiral of dark energy flew towards her and she froze.
She could faintly hear the sound of her Princess screaming her name from a place that sounded so far away when it became mixed in with the sound of ringing bells. Her eyes dropped closed as the explosion sent her body moving backwards at a high speed, causing her to impact with a surface that was less than forgiving.
Some things were worth the sacrifice, Mina thought to herself as darkness began to overtake her faster than her body could begin to heal herself.
A full minute passed before she was able to gasp her next breath. Through closed eyelids she could see bright spots dancing across a vast darkness.
She had sacrificed so much already. A moment of death was worth every moment that would soon follow.
Her eyes cracked open to a merciless sun casting its bright rays in her eyes. Air moved through her lungs at a faster pace now, but still burned nearly as much as the patches of skin that were in the process of regenerating. Her fuku was destroyed beyond repair - she had no doubt.
Strong arms wrapped around her none too gently as she was pulled away to safety. A heavy cape twisted around her as she was clutched to a warm chest that sought to protect her from further harm.
“This one doesn’t count,” she grumbled through dry, cracked lips.
“And why is that?” the light voice responded.
“Because I was clearly too busy watching your back to be watching my own, Zoicite,” she smiled meekly. “In fact,” she paused to cough, the sensation of saliva beginning to form in her mouth causing her to momentarily choke, “I think you owe me for this one.”
Zoicite offered her a crooked smile, though his eyes told her that there would not be an ounce of seriousness to his words. “Of course. So while I am taking the verbal beating from my ever fearless leader I will be sure to think of nothing but thanks to you.”
“As it should be.” Her eyes dropped closed as she rested her head against his shoulder.
“Mina my dear,” his voice strained for a moment and she tensed herself for his next move, “I think we both know the rule about sleeping and concussions.” He pulled his arms from under her, allowing her weight to free fall to the ground. There was no doubt in his mind that her senshi training would prevent her from the impending collision, and as predicted, her eyes flew open as her arms flung around his neck to keep herself upright as her feet lost their battle with gravity to crash into the ground.
As her lips parted to begin her response, she could feel his body stiffen. She turned her head to look up at him, noticing that his gaze was held firm at some point above her head in the distance. His hand moved to the back of her head and he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. “Now we’re even.”
Even was exactly what they were. One mark in his favor for pulling her to safety, and another against for what he just did. She could follow the path of his eyes to see the object that distracted him, but she didn’t need to.
The proverbial and somewhat literal smoke had finally cleared revealing a landscape that showed slight signs of being scorched but was otherwise untouched. Mina watched as the group of senshi, Shitennou, and royalty began to disperse, the enemy defeated. Their lieges would undoubtedly return to a warm bed and gentle embraces while the others would partake in planning or training sessions. Anything to avoid what was in front of them.
Mamoru spoke with the ever stoic leader of his Shitennou who had yet to look in her direction. She couldn’t hear the words that they were speaking, but she didn’t need to either. Undoubtedly the Prince would ask his friend to return with them as a group even though he knew that the response would be a firm and resolute no. He would then ask the taller man when he would end his unrelenting self-inflicted punishment.
Kunzite never answered this question.
Instead he would walk away to where ever it was that he went.
No one ever followed him.
She took her own path, walking towards the sun, towards the edge of her world where land would meet the sea. In this new millennia people had chosen to abandon the countryside and any other area where it was not part of a larger populace. This new group of people clung to the familiar and flocked to be as close to the mystical silver crystal as they could, drinking in the sweet aura that seeped into the grounds surrounding the palace. Maybe it was because of her guardian sword made of the same magic stone that Mina didn’t feel the strength of the calling. Maybe it was because her body was infused with magic of similar origins from many resurrections. Or maybe, simply, it was him.
Mina stood on the edge of the coast, cool water lapping at her ankles with the arrival of each new wave. Arms wrapped around her, one at her shoulders and the other at her waist. These arms were different - stronger, larger, less afraid of breaking her. The couple didn’t speak for several moments and she did nothing to break their imposed silence, instead choosing to enjoy the feeling of their bodies pressed together.
“That was stupid,” he muttered in her ear, his anger just barely contained under the calm demeanor of his voice.
“It was worth it.”
“You could have been killed.”
“I know.”
The arms around her tightened.
She tilted her head to look at him over her shoulder. How different he seemed out of uniform, no longer fearsome or armed with weapons of ancient origins. His sharp eyes still a piercing shade of green, something that he would always carry from incarnation to incarnation. Very much like the rare shade of silver that tinted his hair leaving her to wonder if he somehow had ties to a fallen kingdom that once belonged to the floating orb that would soon be visible in the wake of the setting sun.
“I’ve asked you not to make such sacrifices.”
“And if I listened than we would both know that this wasn’t worth it.”
For a moment, she thought she saw a smile forming on pale lips, but never knew for sure as his descended on hers, sealing their forbidden love with a kiss that seared them down to their souls.
No one knew that beneath her careless exterior that resulted in accidents and injuries and extended stays in an infirmary she had claimed to be currently be in were all diversions.
No one knew that Kunzite didn’t truly harbor feelings of self-loathing for a past life that had gone horribly wrong.
Rather it was easier to allow them to believe what they chose to believe.
It allowed them this time alone. Time, she thought to herself as she allowed him to lower her to the ground, neither minding the grains of sand that would linger on their clothing or the sea water that would stain their clothes with the scent of salt and ocean.
Soft lips lingered on her neck as calloused hands caressed the most sensitive parts of her body. A shudder passed through her as she submitted herself to the pleasurable whims of the man above her.
Her princess had once forsaken her entire kingdom for the man that she loved. Mina could only wonder to herself if it was a similar sin that she now allowed herself to follow along the same path with a man who had once pledged his soul to the devil in a promise that could never be reneged on.